


Sight Without Seeing

by Scoobert0



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash, blind!Tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-25
Updated: 2012-11-25
Packaged: 2017-11-19 09:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/571771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scoobert0/pseuds/Scoobert0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was successful in business and bed, he was a genius and rich, he was Iron Man. And nothing Captain America or any of the so-called Avengers said could change any of that. Just because he couldn't see didn't mean he was useless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sight Without Seeing

**Author's Note:**

> So, before we begin, I figure there are a few things you should know before hand, cause I'm not sure when I'm going to get around to discussing them in the fic.:  
> 1) Tony has been blind since he was 5.  
> 2) Tony built JARVIS at MIT instead of Dum-E (he built the bots at a later time).  
> 3) The time line is pretty much the same as it was in the MCU movies, leading up to the Avengers, we diverge from there.  
> 4) Tony is still Iron Man, but only Pepper, Rhodey, Happy and SHIELD know.
> 
> Anywho, hopefully it's not horrible. Enjoy!

“Good morning Sir, the time is 7:15AM, the temperature outside is currently 68 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny with a chance of rain this evening.” JARVIS announced through the speakers in the room.

Tony felt the warmth of the sun on his arms and face as the AI deactivated the black out on the windows. He sat up with a groan and rubbed at his face. Running a hand through his ruffled hair, he sighed loudly.

“Ms. Potts called to remind you of the board meeting this morning at ten and the meeting with SHEILD this evening.” Tony could hear JARBIS hesitate before the AI continued, “May I suggest, Sir, calling someone in to help you shave? It has been over a week since you last did and-“

“Its fine JARVIS, I can still feel the difference.” He grumbled as he scratched at his jaw, “Start the shower up though, will you?”

“Certainly Sir.”

Falling back onto his bed, he stretched his arms and legs till he found the edge of his bed. He swung his legs over the side and sat up again, taking a moment to orient himself. Pushing up to his feet, he made his way across the room in 18 steps, until he reached the bathroom door.

Going in, he heard the shower already on. Taking 2 steps forward and 3 to the left, he reached the toilet and relieved himself. Done with that, he turned 180 degrees, and 7 steps led him to the shower. He jumped in, shutting the glass door behind him, and stood savoring the heat of the water pounding down on his head and shoulders.

After he finished scrubbing and rinsing himself, he signaled JARVIS to turn the water off. He reached for a towel hanging on the wall. Except there wasn’t one there.

“Shit,” He murmured to himself, “JARVIS, where’s my towel?”

“Ms. Potts put it with the laundry, Sir. She must have forgotten to get a new one out for you. There are extra towels in the cupboard at chest level, Sir.”

God Tony hated his PA some times. At least his AI made up for it.

 He scraped as much excess water off his body as he could before getting out of the shower.

He took 7 steps back across the bathroom and 4 to the right. Grasping the door handle, he pulled it open. Reaching in, he felt for the shelf that was level with his chest and grabbed one of the plush towels there. He closed the door and dried himself properly before wrapping the towel around his waist.

Taking 4 steps to the right, he placed himself so he was lined up with the center of the sink. Reaching forward 20cm, he picked up a cup that was next to the faucets with his toothbrush and toothpaste in it. As he brushed his teeth, he filled the cup up with some water from the tap. He spit into the basin and rinsed his mouth with the water from the cup before putting everything back where he’d taken it from.

“Alright JARVIS, now for the hard part.”

“Sir-“

“Don’t start with me; I am not in the mood today, J. Now, please tell me I left my shaving stuff out after I used it last time.” He spoke as he weaved his hand just above the counter to his left, already searching.

“Ms. Potts put them away in the top drawer on the left Sir.”

With a sigh, he reached down and opened said drawer. He froze when he could only find one article within it. Growling, he checked the other drawers, only to find that they only held their usual assortment of things.

“JARVIS. Why is the there only an electric razor in the drawer?” He asked the AI, only a hint of a snarl in his tone.

“Ms. Potts removed several items while she was here yesterday. All in accordance with the agreement you made with both her and Colonel Rhodes, of course.” The AI sounded smug in his answer.

“I had to have been drunk when I agreed to all that bull shit, god…”

“Your blood alcohol level was under the legal limit at the time.” It shouldn’t be possible, but JARVIS sounded even smugger than he had before.

“Fine, whatever.” Tony mumbled as he grabbed the electric razor and turned it on. Using his fingers as a guide, he started to carefully shave himself. When he was done, he begrudgingly asked JARVIS how it looked.

“Considerably better, Sir. You no longer resemble an actual homeless person, only someone who is merely trying to appear homeless.”

“Thanks JARVIS, you ass. I’d reprogram you and give you to a community college if I didn’t need you so much.” He said as he turned the tap on and rinsed his face. Grabbing a hand towel that was sitting to his right, he patted his face dry before putting it down again. 10cm to the right of the towel was a small jar, which he picked up and opened carefully. He carefully set them both next to the sink and used his finger tips to scoop some of the gel out. Rubbing his hands together briefly he ran his fingers through his hair, teasing it so it stood up a little. He wiped his hands off on the hand towel before replacing the cap on the jar and putting it back where it had been.

After applying some deodorant, he made his way to the door of the bathroom. He hung his towel up before heading out the door and taking 3 steps forward and 7 to the right, into his walk-in closet.

“Alright, my little fashionista, what you got for me today?” Moving 3 steps into the room and 4 paces to the left, he reached out at hip level till his fingers brushed against a ledge. Finding the drawer handles, he counted till he found the third drawer and pulled it open, grabbing a pair of boxer briefs out and putting them on. Closing the drawer, he trailed his hand back up to the top one and opened it. Taking out a pair of socks, he felt around the hems to find the marker that would tell him what color they were. The pair he had were white, Not gonna work. He went through a couple pairs before he found some black ones. As soon as he had them on and the drawer shut, JARVIS was speaking.

“I have selected a dark blue Dolace and Gabhana suit and a burgundy shirt with a gold, blue and white striped tie. Does that suit your tastes for today or shall I compile another selection?”

“Sounds good, bring it on.” He stepped off to the opposite side of the room and found where the clothing articles had been places via the mechanical system he’d created, so that between him and JARVIS, he could dress himself without looking like he’d gotten dressed in, well, the dark.

Making to grab for the shirt he knew would be hanging in front of him, he heard JARVIS make a noise that was the equivalent of someone clearing their throat.

“What?”

“Sir, I would suggest you put on an undershirt, since you will be in public and amongst strangers today.”

“Oh. Right.” Tony automatically reached up to his chest and ran his fingers over the Arc reactor embedded there. The light it radiated didn’t have any effect for him, but he’d learned his lesson about letting anyone but Pepper or Rhodey see it.

Going back to the drawers, he opened the second one down and grabbed a random wife beater, not caring what color it was. He slipped it on as he went back to where his clothes were.

Dressing with practiced efficiency, he was fully clothed in no time. Snagging his tie, he looped it over his neck so Happy could tie it for him later.

“What you got for footwear today J?”

“I would suggest a pair of Gucci loafers, but to be more in accordance with your… Style, a pair of Prada sneakers perhaps?”

Tony smiled slightly. It was times like this he was more than glad he gave his AI a personality, no matter what anyone said. He’d probably have trashed the whole system within a week if he had some program blatantly giving him instructions all the time. JARVIS, on the other hand, had learned early on how to successfully interact with his creator. And now, after the whole Afghanistan incident and losing his Seeing Eye dog, the AI made it possible for him to live alone without someone having to check on him every couple hours.

“Just give me a pair of red Converse High-Tops, J.”

“Very well Sir.”

He could hear gears whirling as JARVIS activated the machinery to select his shoe choice from the collection. There was a soft thunk on the carpet as the shoes were deposited. Reaching down, he grabbed one and felt along the inside of the heel to figure out which shoe it was. He quickly pulled them onto the correct feet and tied them.

“Coffee is ready in the kitchen, Sir. Junior has successfully made some eggs on toast, if you want it.” He was informed as he stood up.

He counted his steps as he moved out of the closet and out of his room entirely. Taking a left, he kept track of the number of steps he was taking before stopping. He slid one foot forward hesitantly till he felt the drop of the first stair. He stepped down them with ease, and continued making his way towards the kitchen.

As he got closer, he could hear frantic beeps and wheels spinning. When he finally stepped into the kitchen there was a loud crash and the sound of dishware breaking, followed by a depressed whirl.

“You are so lucky I have shoes on right now.” Tony grumbled at the helper bot in his kitchen as he moved past it, brushing a hand along its side so he knew its position and didn’t trip over it. He made his way to where the coffee pot was and reached up for the cupboard on his right. Opening it, he pulled out the first mug his fingers found and shut it. He moved the cup so it was sitting under the spout of the machine. Using his other hand, he reached up and found the largest button on the machine and pressed it. He hummed happily to himself as he heard the hiss of coffee filling the cup. There was a short beep that told him it was ready.

Bringing the cup to his lips, he chugged it down before putting the cup down and refilling it. Once that cup was ready, he grabbed it, and using his hand on the edge of the counter, made his way along the edge of the kitchen till it ran out. 2 steps had his hip gently bumping into the island. Reaching out, he found one of the chairs and sat down in it. The sound of rubber wheels on tile gets louder as Junior rolls up next to him and he hears a soft tink of ceramic on the granite counter top in front of him, followed shortly by silverware being laid down next to the plate.

“Your plate is off center by 5cm, Sir. The toast is on the left side in the upper quadrant and the eggs are on the right half of the plate. A fork has been placed to the right and Junior will be bringing a protein shake for you. I’ll have him place it 10cm to your left.” JARVIS informed him. A few seconds later he heard Junior approaching again and the clink of a glass being set down to his left.

“Wait, so he didn’t trash breakfast? What broke before?” Tony asked as he pushed the plate so it was centered and picked up the fork. He grabbed a piece of toast and shoveled a few fork fulls of egg onto it. Leaning over, he took a bite out the food and made a pleased noise.

“He was attempting to clean up his failed attempts at breakfast.”

“Awesome.” He said around a mouthful of food, “Oi, shape your act up or you’re going back down to the shop and I’ll make something else for up here.” He could hear a low whirl of shame come from the bot somewhere behind him.

Finishing his food, he downed the shake and got up to get another cup, or 3, of coffee. He left the kitchen with another full cup of coffee and headed for the living room. 12 steps forward from the doorway and 9 to the right had him standing in front of the coffee table. He set his cup down before stepping around it and flopping down onto the couch situated there. Picking the cup back up, he took a sip and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly the room was filled with the sound of people discussing stock prices and general market information. He half listened to it as he queued up his messages and had them played. Growing bored with that, he tapped the table and felt its surface open to reveal a cubby. Reaching in, he removed a small block of matter before tapping the table again and waited for it to close.

“JARVIS, form the recent specs for the Iron Man armor, will ya?” The substance in his hands changed shape then, turning into something he’d become intimately familiar with as of late, “Ok, make it the left repulsor now, at a quarter scale.”

The matter shifted again till it resembled his gauntlet, “It felt a little laggy the last time we were out, what were the readings from it?”

“Sir, Mr. Hogan is here to pick you up.” The AI said instead. Tony heaved an exaggerated sigh before folding his hands together over the model, which collapsed back into a cube shape. He slipped it into his pocket as he heard footsteps coming down the hallway.

“Morning boss.” Happy greeted as he sat down next to him on the couch. He pulled the tie from around his neck and wordlessly handed it to his driver/bodyguard. A minute later the tie was being pressed back into his hand and he slipped it over his neck and tightened it.

“Ready to go?”

“Might as well.” Tony pushed to his feet and casually put his hand on Happy’s shoulder, letting the man lead him towards the front door.

On the way he stopped by a long table in the entryway, picking up his wallet, a pair of glasses and unplugging his phone. He could hear Happy picking up the suitcase armor and handcuffing it to his wrist. Slipping the wallet and phone into his coat pocket, he slid the glasses on and pressed a small switch on the inside of the right arm. He picked up a small ear piece and pressed it into his left ear.

“You there J?” He asked softly.

“Of course Sir.” JARVIS’ voice came through the ear piece.

Getting the cricks out of his neck he smoothed his jacket down and held his arms out to his sides, “How am I looking Happy?”

“Like a champ boss.” The other man answered right in front of him. Tony reached forward and felt Happy’s bicep under his hand.

The driver led them out of the house towards the car. He could feel the warmth of the sun on his face and relished it. JARVIS’ voice was providing audio descriptive commentary via the small cameras embedded in the frame of his glasses.

Happy held the door of the car open for him, telling him the distances of where the top and side of the car were as well as the height of the seat. He slid onto the bench seat with grace, letting Happy shut the door behind him. A few moments later he heard Happy open the driver’s door and felt the car shift as he got in.

“So what’s on the agenda for today boss?”

“Board meeting, then I’m probably going to go harass R&D for awhile. Then I got a meeting with some SHIELD asses later tonight.” He regaled his schedule, before getting an idea, “Say, you and Pepper got any plans this afternoon?”

“Not that I know of.” The car started up and he could feel the motion as they headed down the driveway.

“We should get something to eat then. I think Rhodey’s in town; I’ll have Pep call him when I see her.”

“Sounds good sir. You want some music?” Happy asked.

“Sure. Surprise me with anything but country. We don’t want a repeat of last time now do we?” He smiled widely, knowing Happy would see him through the rear view mirror.

“You could have just told me to change the station instead of trying to dive up here and do it yourself, Tony.” Grumbled Happy as the car turned onto the main drag and accelerated.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Happy snorted at the comment and soon after some soft rock started filtering through the speakers at a low volume.

Leaning back in his seat, Tony sat listening for a few moments before pulling out the cube in his pocket and playing with it, muttering instructions to JARVIS the whole while.

Twenty minutes later the car stopped and Happy got out. Tony waited for him to come around and open the door for him. Pushing out of the vehicle, and moved a few steps ahead. The sound of people rushing about everywhere overwhelmed him briefly. He hadn’t been out in public a lot recently, and the amount of noise was a bit too much. Over the noise, he heard Happy close the door and murmur a few words as he handed the keys off to a valet.

Footsteps stopped next to him before Happy spoke up, “Ready to go boss?”

“Lead on.” He answered, gripping onto his arm once more, letting Happy lead them through the crowds and into Stark Industries.

 


End file.
